


baby, don't give up on me now

by dirty_diana



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Aliens Made Them Do It, Dubious Consent, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Ejaculation, Mission Fic, Multiple Orgasms, Public Sex, Relationship Talks, ending in really filthy smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-08-23 09:20:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20240497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirty_diana/pseuds/dirty_diana
Summary: The Legends go to space.*(Dubious consent for the alien interference in the situation, aka aliens made them do it.)*"You sure about this?" Zari asked him."Sure? It's just a power dampener, right? Without my powers, I'm still smart, great at research, and incredibly, incredibly handsome."Zari smiled. "You are that.""And I give a mean pep talk."





	baby, don't give up on me now

**Author's Note:**

> It seemed like there could be more of steelhacker banging? beta by skripka <3

Zari stared out of the Waverider viewing window. Stars flew by her, bright pricks of light in the endless canopy of the galaxy. "This is kinda cool. How come you guys have never taken me to space before?"

"Hasn't come up," Sara answered with a shrug.

"But now we've been invited way out into the galaxy by some aliens no one's ever heard of." Zari dropped back down into her seat next to Nate, who gave her a goofy grin. Zari pressed her lips together, trying not to smile back.

"Haven't heard of them yet," Ray corrected cheerfully.

Gideon cut in. "Humanity first makes contact with the Hvbinà in the year 3167. They are a peaceful species, famous across the galaxy for their literature and music."

Nate perked up. "What kind of music, Gideon?"

"I can play you some, if you'd like."

"Yes, please."

Music filled the bridge, a strange percussive mélange that made Charlie wrinkle her nose. "It ain't new wave, that's for sure."

In his seat, Mick was fuming. "I still think this sounds like a trap."

"You just don't like space," Sara said, and a meaningful look passed between them that Zari didn't understand.

"You're right. I don't," Mick said.

*

They made planetfall in a shipyard that lay miles away from the city. It was a flat piece of desert, raucous with the noise of other ships landing and taking off. The trouble started right away.

"Excuse me," one of the aliens said, their language translated into a crisp English by Gideon's implants. They were humanoid, with shimmery marble-white skin. "I'm afraid we can't allow the meta-being in the city without first taking precautions."

Their eyes were hidden behind a dark glass visor, but the direction of their gaze was a line straight towards Nate.

"What, a meta steal your lunch money?" Mick grunted.

The alien paused, before obviously deciding to take a guess at understanding Mick's meaning. "Meta-beings are unnatural. They must be taken care of so that they do not cause the trouble which they are capable of."

"I'm sorry," Zari said out loud to no one in particular. "Didn't these bigots ask for our help?"

Ray was glaring. Sara wasn't happy either, staring at the aliens with narrowed eyes. She gestured meaningfully at all the Legends. "Nate is part of the team. That's what you guys requested. Our whole team."

"It's simply a necessary precaution that will allow him to enter the city!" The alien spoke so fast that the translator chip seemed to be struggling to catch up. They gestured with one of their slender arms. "A simple bracelet, to restrict use of hi powers while on our planet."

"How come Charlie doesn't have to wear one?" Zari asked.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"I'm just saying." Zari shrugged.

The alien's visor swiveled in Charlie's direction, then looked down at the display screen in their hands that had screeched an alarm when Nate had stepped down from the Waverider. "Charlie-hrzz abilities are usual for their species."

"Excuse me!" Charlie sounded offended. "Mate, there's nothing else like me."

"Well, what about me?" Zari asked. She held out the wrist that wore her totem bracelet, the red stone sparkling.

The ambassador huffed a little. "The source of your abilities is external. If there are no more questions--"

"This rule is becoming more nonsensical the more you explain it," Zari interrupted.

"Cause bigotry always makes so much sense," Sara said with a sigh. She turned to her teammate. "Nate? Your call. Say the word and we're out of here."

"No way. Nate is not wearing that thing," Zari said firmly.

Nate stepped forward. "Zari. It's fine."

The alien made a clicking sound that the chip made no attempt to translate. "Thank you. If he is to wear this restrictor bracelet, someone else must take responsibility for him while he is here."

The entire team turned towards Zari. She shook her head at them. "Wait a second. Why is everyone looking at me?"

Charlie shrugged. "Because you're his girlfriend. Obviously."

"I am not!" Zari blurted, realising belatedly that maybe she'd sounded just a little too horrified. "I mean. We haven't put labels on everything yet."

"Yeah," Nate agreed with an upbeat smile, but his eyes were bright with a strong emotion she couldn't quite read. Disappointment? "But I trust you."

The alien clicked twice more. They took a grey, circular piece of tech from another alien who had appeared in the small retinue behind them, holding it out to her. "Yes. Good. Place this device around his wrist and speak to set it to your personal command."

Zari looked up at Nate. He turned to face her. He held out a hand to her, calm and trusting.

"You sure about this?" Zari asked him.

"Sure? It's just a power dampener, right? Without my powers, I'm still smart, great at research, and incredibly, incredibly handsome."

Zari smiled a little. "You are that." 

"And I give a mean pep talk."

"That you do."

The ringed power dampener lit up at Zari's touch, then beeped when it was placed around Nate's wrist. The whole team watched in worried silence.

"You feeling okay?" Sara asked immediately.

Nate did a small, awkward dance, as if testing his limbs. He thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah? I feel fine."

"See," the Hvbinà ambassador said. "We are not barbarians. Now that this simple business is taken care of, we welcome you to our capital city."

"How old is it?" Nate asked, with interest.

Zari rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he's fine."

*

The Hvbinà flew from the landing dock over a flat desert, arriving in a city full of glass towers. The tallest had been clearly visible many miles out from the city, their summits stretching into the sky. The ambassador was giving a lecture on the history of the most prominent buildings to Nate. He listened intently, nodding along. No one else on the Waverider was paying attention, instead distracted by the sights.

"You all don't believe in curtains, huh?" Zari asked, watching a group of aliens gather around a long table for what appeared to be a meal. In the next building, countless floors of Hvbinà sat in rows, silently studying dark screens.

"Maybe they're not as shy as humans," Charlie said.

"Human beings just don't like being watched. Makes you feel as if someone's judging you. It's natural," Mick said.

"Yeah, and Rebecca Silver would tell them to just get over it, wouldn't she?" Charlie asked. "Can't live your whole life worrying about what people think."

Mick shrugged.

Zari pointed with her index finger as their shuttle flew past another clear window that ran the length of a room. "Are those people having sex?" she asked.

All the Legends craned their necks to take a look.

"Wow," Ray said. "Space is really interesting."

*

"These will be your quarters while you are here," the ambassador said, doing the strange half-shuffle with their shoulders that seemed to be meant as a gesture of politeness.

Ray stared, impressed. "Wow. This is bigger than the Waverider."

Charlie squealed. "Dibs on the biggest bedroom!"

"Not if I get there first!" Ray said, and they raced off together, elbowing each other for position in the narrow glass hallway.

Constantine scowled. "Are we just here on vacation? Cause I didn't bring my bathing suit."

The ambassador shuffled their shoulders. "The chief-inspector-minister"--the translator seemed to be struggling with the Hvbinà title, producing a long string of words--"wishes for you to be comfortable while you proceed in solving our issue."

"What issue is that, exactly?" Sara asked. "We didn't get a lot of details in your message about this time fugitive."

"The chief-inspector-minister will explain everything. They have all the details."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what's going on?"

The ambassador moved slightly again, now seeming agitated. "I am not allowed to speak of it."

"We get it," Nate said quickly, before anyone else could insult the ambassador further. "Top secret, right? We're happy to follow your procedures, even if they're foreign to us."

Zari rolled her eyes at Nate's sudden show of deference. He shrugged, waggling his eyebrows at her out of the ambassador's line of sight. She stifled a chuckle.

The ambassador nodded, mollified.

Charlie reappeared in the apartment's cavernous living space, her chest heaving from the exertion of the race she'd just run. Ray was right behind her. "Seriously, you have got to come see how many buttons there are in the bathrooms."

"I will return to collect you in one hour to greet the chief-inspector-minister," the ambassador informed them before marching regally out of the front door.

*

"So," Nate said, putting his arms around Zari and pulling her down onto the large bed. They'd claimed a room together, ignoring the significant looks and silly faces the rest of the Legends made. "We're on an alien planet."

She kissed him on the lips, settling into his embrace. She could pick up the faint, familiar scents of his hair gel and aftershave. "Yeah, it's just like that movie you like."

Nate frowned down at her. "What movie?"

"I don't know. I just figured there had to be one. About space, or weird alien cities in space."

He brightened. "Oh, yeah! That's Star Wars. Does this make me Han Solo?"

"Only if you can make the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs," Zari answered.

"You just quoted Star Wars," Nate murmured. The breath of his words was warm on the slope of her neck. 

"I guess I did," Zari agreed, smiling a little.

"I am so turned on right now."

Zari kissed him, a long, sweet kiss until they were both gasping for air. Nate held her tighter, moaning a little into her mouth.

"We can all see you!" Charlie shouted from the living room. Zari looked up. Two rooms over, Charlie was waving at them through the apartment's transparent walls.

Nate retreated from the kiss, laughing. Zari pressed her face against his chest and groaned. "I take it back. Space is dumb."

*

The Hvbinà chief worked out of the biggest glass building of all. His office overlooked a large square space many floors down, where nearly a hundred of the aliens stood in rows that circled a central computer display. They all seemed to be arguing with each other, but they were too far up for Zari's translator chip to catch any words.

Nate stared down at the sight. "This is your seat of government?"

"Why, yes." The ambassador stood next to Nate, pointing at the scene. "The computer holds the laws of the Hvbinà City Parliament, first convened in the year--"

"Seriously," Constantine interrupted, pilling a cigarette out of the pocket of his coat. Ray frowned at him, and Constantine left the cigarette unlit, dangling from between his lips. "Are we here to work, or to sightsee?"

"You are extra grumpy today," Zari observed to John under her breath.

He shrugged, mouth lilting carelessly. "I don't like being in space. I don't even like being out of England."

Sara harrumphed loudly in her throat, drawing their attention to the Hvbinà chief as they shrugged their shoulders at all of the Legends. 

"I am Farel. Thank you for coming." Their skin was paler even than the rest of the Hvbinà they had met so far, so much so that thin blue-purple lines of veins were visible in their face.

"You're welcome, but we still don't know why we're here," Sara said.

Farel turned to her "Ah, well, you see, Sara-hrzz. I head the agency that manages our technology for manipulating the corridors of time."

"Wait, time travel? You already have time travel? Why do you need us?" Charlie asked.

Farel waved their pale hands. "No, you misunderstand. When I say we manage it, I mean it is very much forbidden. No Hvbinà may travel these corridors. The potential for catastrophe is too great. Yet, I know Terrans time travel freely, and are often skilled at balancing the potential for catastrophe with unexpected success."

"I'm not sure that was a compliment," Nate whispered, so quietly that only Zari, standing next to him, could hear. She touched the back of his hand, her fingertips making contact with the heavy alien metal of the power dampener.

Sara nodded. "Yeah, unexpected success. That's us."

"This thief has broken into the Agency of Restricted Technology and removed one of the items that creates the time corridors. They are using it, creating havoc as we speak."

"They're messing with the timeline? Using their knowledge of history in order to get rich and powerful?" Ray asked.

Again Farel appeared agitated. "They are traversing the time corridor! Without permission! Is that not enough?"

The Legends all hesitated, glancing at each other.

"I don't get it," Charlie said. "This person's entire crime is time traveling without a permit?"

"Sounds like something we would do," John admitted.

"Sounds like something we have done," Mick said.

"A bunch of times," Sara agreed.

"To be fair," Nate said, raising his hands. "They could still cause changes to the timeline, if let loose for much longer."

"Or maybe they already have caused changes," Zari pointed out. "I mean, how would we know? Not as if we're Hvbinà historians."

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Come on, you don't have to agree with him all the time."

"I don't," Zari said, frowning.

"Yeah, you do."

"I'll contact Gideon, see what her capabilities are for finding changes in alien history," Nate said. "In the meantime, we might just have to do this the old-fashioned way. I assume you have some sort of historical archive we could look at?"

Farel nodded. "We do."

Sara hid a smile. "Fine. Take Zari and Ray and see what you can get out of it."

Connecting Gideon's databanks to the contents of the Hvbinà Time Library was a slow process. Zari awoke with a start in the empty library, to find that she had fallen asleep on the floor with her back propped against a clear library wall. Ray was sitting beside her, fast asleep with his head on her shoulder and his hair tickling her nose. On the other side of her Nate had simply sprawled on the floor, his head on her lap, before falling easily into slumber. 

Sara was in the library, which she definitely hadn't been when they'd fallen asleep. She was the noise that had woken her up, Zari realised, as the usually quiet fighter moved forward with purposefully heavy footfalls. Sara stood over her with a look of amusement. Nate shifted against Zari without waking.

Zari blinked still-sleepy eyes. "Did we do it?" 

Sara shrugged. "Gideon?" she asked.

"I am running the Hvbinà historical data now," Gideon announced through their communication pieces. Ray startled awake at the sound. Nate remained fast asleep, and Zari stroked his shoulder absently. "Though it is very strangely organised." She sounded put out.

"Whatever you can find, Gideon," Sara said.

The AI spoke again. "I believe I have found an aberration. The Hvbinà First Minister was murdered, during the 379th Convening of the Parliament, just over two hundred years ago. Yet, this occurrence does not appear in all the records. I believe the aberration is still in flux."

"Why would someone have a grudge against a politician from two hundred years ago?" Zari asked.

"After their death, an emergency election was held, resulting in an unusually liberal government that relaxed many of the planet's strict social rules."

Sara and Zari looked at each other.

"Are we sure that's bad?" Zari asked.

"Not really our call to make," Sara said.

"I still think we should have brought someone who knows more about all this, uh, space stuff," Zari said. "Like Supergirl." In her lap Nate was finally stirring, his hand groping sleepily for her own. She reached out, and gripped his fingers tightly without looking down, a silent _good morning_.

Sara shook her head firmly. "They requested the Legends. They're damn well going to get the Legends. Besides, how hard can it be to chase down one single thief?"

*

The people of Hvbinà, it turned out, could run extremely quickly. The team had arrived mid-assassination attempt, chasing the startled Hvbinà thief out of the parliament assembly and into the streets. Nate was the first to get winded. He collapsed on the steps that led up to a wide glass building gasping for air. This one seemed familiar, but Zari wasn't sure. Once they'd walked through the time courier, many of the most recognisable landmarks had disappeared. They'd jumped just a couple of centuries into the past, but it was more than enough of a timespan to be disorienting.

Nate was doubled over, clutching his chest. Zari knelt down beside him. "It can't be that bad."

"Yeah, it can," Nate said, but a small, lopsided smile let her know that he wasn't in dire condition. "You don't have to--you can go help the others." The rest of the Legends, led by Ray in the ATOM suit, had quickly sped away after the thief and were now out of sight. There was a crowd of Hvbinà gathering to stare silently.

Zari's only response was to glare at him. She didn't move, ignoring the gawking crowd.

"Seriously, you can--" Nate broke off, and pressed his fingers to his chest again. "I really wish I had my powers right now."

"I really wish you had your powers too." Zari scowled once more at the dampener bracelet. Nate took another heaving breath. 

The shrieking of an alien alarm cut sharply through their murmured conversation. Nate's hands came up as he automatically reached for his powers, grunting in pain as they wouldn't come. 

Zari stood, calling a swirl of air around her. She spoke into her comm. "Guys? How are you doing? Nate and I might need some backup."

"We're headed back. Ray lost the thief. He's probably used the time device by now. They could be anywhere."

A shuttle landed at the top of the steps, forcing Zari to  
squint against the sun make out the figures that emerged. The crowd, mumbling sounds of distress, was gathering at the foot of the steps. They'd been casually surrounded.

Nate tried to stand, shakily making it onto his feet Zari stood in front of him, shielding his powerless form the best she could as aliens poured out of the marked Hvbinà shuttle. Zari had spent enough time running from ARGUS to recognise cops when she saw them. Even on an alien planet.

"Zari," Nate said from behind her, in a low, warning voice.

Zari moved her shoulders in a slight, noncommittal gesture. Her hands balled into fists. She would defend both of them if she had to. Last out of the shuttle was a tall alien with unexpectedly pale skin, and Zari frowned. "Does that being look familiar to you?" 

"Oh, wow. Is that Chief Farel?" Ray's voice was distorted through the ATOM armour as he landed beside her. There was a clicking sound as his faceplate lifted.

"Maybe a close ancestor?" Nate suggested. He still sounded winded. Ray glanced at him worriedly.

Sara and the rest of the Legends were landing on the other side of the square, behind the crowd.

"I am chief-inspector-minister Fesal," the Hvbinà announced. "Greetings, aliens. We are uncertain where you have come from, but we must inform you that you are in violation of several of our laws." The last they said quietly, as the beings around them grew restless with discomfort. "Time travel is forbidden on Hvbinà."

"Seriously, they invited us," Zari muttered.

With Sara on the other side of the square, it fell to Nate to speak up.

"Without time travel, we wouldn't have been able to stop that man that disrupted the seat of your government and attacked your First Minister just now." He gestured in the direction of the capitol building where they'd originally come through, startling the armed thief into fleeing.

"We saved their life," Ray added.

"Yeah, and we wouldn't have been able to do that without time travel."

Zari resisted shaking her head. The artless, optimistic defense reminded her so much of when they'd tried to rescue her from Kuasa in 2042. They'd sounded so ridiculous and naive, she thought.

From the alien scowl on Chief Fesal's face, they thought the same. "Without time travel this troublemaker would not have been able to make an attempt on the minister's life in the first place."

Zari couldn't really argue with that. Sara appeared at her side. "Our work here is done," she said, "so we're just going to apologise--"

Zari couldn't help the mocking noise that rose in her throat. In her earpiece, she caught twin irritated noises from Mick and John.

"Apologise," Sara repeated more loudly, "for the disruption. And we're going to go now, and get out of your hair."

It wasn't a request. Sara's expression was firm as she activated the Time Courier on her wrist and waved them all through. Mick kept his gun silently trained on the crowd. He was the last to follow.

*

Being a time-traveling superhero could be a whole of waiting around. They returned to the Hvbinà City apartment, and waited for a new wrinkle in the timeline to show itself and provide a clue. Zari kicked her feet listlessly against the bed.

"Are you hungry?" Nate asked her. It was a blatant attempt to distract her from her boredom, but she let it pass. "Cause I could get some of those cookie things you like, from the shop down the street. Then we could watch a movie on my phone?"

Zari met Nate's hopeful eyes and nodded. She kicked her feet one more time to propel her off the bed. "Sure. Let's go."

"Nah. I've still got that money card thing the ambassador gave us, and it'll only take a minute." He pushed her gently back towards the bed, leaning in for a fleeting kiss. "You stay here and get ready for the post sugar rush cuddling."

Zari made a face. "Ugh. I keep telling you, I don't cuddle."

Nate winked flirtatiously at her. "We'll see," he said, and then he was gone. 

Zari collapsed back into the too-big Hvbinà bed alone. One minute turned to fifteen, then thirty. Zari shifted restlessly, talking to herself. "Z, please don't tell me you've turned into one of those girls who can't be away from her boyfriend for even a second."

Boyfriend. Zari pursed her lips, considering the word. It wasn't exactly anything they'd talked about.

Something was making a buzzing noise. "I'll get it!" Charlie announced. Zari could see her racing through the clear hallways to slam a hand against the button that would open the communication panel set into the wall, just as the ambassador had shown them.

She spoke to the Hvbinà that appeared, then turned around, looking towards Nate and Zari's room. "Z? It's for you."

*

Sara went with her. The captain ordered the others to stay behind, and stay out of trouble, but Zari could tell from the bitter, tense expressions on the faces of each team member that they were all managing the same fury she felt inside.

Zari grit her teeth, pausing in front of the door to the small alien shop. "Let's get this over with.

Nate was inside, standing in the centre of the shop. He looked up when she entered, but without any hint of the crooked, pleased smile of greeting that she was used to. Instead his eyes seemed vague and distant. He barely acknowledged her as she moved towards him.

"Is this how you treat all your customers?" Sara was glaring at the shopkeeper.

The clerk stared haughtily back at them from behind their visor. "He's not a customer. He's a meta."

"Not this again." Up close, Zari could see that Nate had turned as weak as he'd been in the public square, in no condition to move on his own. "What did you do to him?"

"The meta restraining field activates immediately, upon detection of an unaccompanied meta." The shopkeeper was now looking intently in Zari's direction. As if she was the one to blame.

"Well, turn it off," Sara growled.

"That is impossible. The system is automated. You alone have the power to adjust these personal restraints."

Zari blinked at that, remembering something. She pushed a hand into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out the small, round token the ambassador had given her. She was certain it had been red when she had received it, but now it was blue, labeled in the Hvbinà language. There was a button in the centre, and Zari fingered its raised edges with her thumb. "This wasn't here before," she muttered, but she spun the dial just the same, holding her breath.

Bit by bit, Nate's expression began to clear. "Zari! What's happening?" He looked around him in bewilderment.

"We're getting out of here, Space Ranger." Sara tapped Nate companionably on the back of the head. Nate didn't seem to notice the murderous glare that Sara hadn't quite managed to wipe from her face.

"I was buying cookies. But they said I couldn't be in here, and…" Nate's voice trailed off into forgetful silence. Confusion creased the space between his brows.

Zari tucked her arm into Nate's, guiding him towards the street. "Doesn't matter. Changed my mind. I'm not hungry."

"Wow, sounds like an emergency," Nate said, throwing her a familiar smile. Zari was too relieved to see Nate surfacing from his fog to think of a suitably sarcastic answer.

*

"Yes, a meta cannot be allowed to wander the streets without their companion." Back inside the expansive glass apartment, the ambassador blinked at her over the video call. "I'm sure I told you this when you arrived, Zari-hrzz."

"I'm sure you didn't." Zari pulled her token out of her pocket. "You didn't tell me what the big button was for, either. You didn't even tell me there was a big button." 

"I must have. Proper control of one's meta is the most important--"

Zari shook her head. She wouldn't have taken it, a device that allowed her to control Nate's strength as if he were a kitchen microwave. She would have, should have, insisted. "Well, you can have it back. We're leaving."

Sara cut into the conversation, elbowing Zari out of the ambassador's view. "What Zari means is, we'll be able to return your time device very soon. Don't worry!" She waved with fake brightness and ended the call.

Zari glared at her. "Seriously?"

"Don't you see it?"

"There's been another change to the timeline," Nate said. He'd been standing at the back of the room, hands shoved into his pockets, watching as Zari cursed out the ambassador.

Charlie sighed. "So while we were trying to help, we changed the timeline? Chief Farel will love that."

"Chief Fuckhead," Constantine said.

"They said that meta bracelet thing was safe!" Zari was yelling now, at no one in particular. 

"But I'm okay." Nate swatted casually at Ray, standing beside him. "Buddy, back me up here."

"Um," Ray said. He bit his lip, looking worriedly at his friend. "I think we should just finish this mission as quickly as we can, and get out of here."

"Or we can just tell them to shove their mission and get the hell home before Nate gets any worse."

"You were so excited about going to space," Nate said. He sounded sad.

"That's before I discovered space was full of assholes," Zari said.

"Just like home," Mick pointed out.

Sara shook her head. "I think we have to finish this one. Gideon, tell them what you found."

"Yes, Captain," Gideon answered. "After the First Minister survives their assassination, they implement much stricter rules on metas and time travel."

"No kidding," Zari said.

"Metas are barred from many public spaces, and their presence has incited several riots in the past fifty years. The society also becomes much more wary of alien contact. This results in the Hvbinà Expansion War with several neighbouring planets, seventy years into the future from our current time. Millions of beings die."

"You're saying by poking around, we accidentally started an intergalactic war," John said. Despite his usual slow, cheeky draw, his expression betrayed a hint of worry.

"I'm afraid so, Mister Constantine."

Ray sighed. "We really can't leave until we've fixed that."

"They're torturing him," Zari protested, but she could tell from the discomfited silence that the rest of the room understood, but agreed with Ray.

"We've been through worse," Nate said, quiet but sure. His eyes were lit with determination. "You and Sara almost got burned at the stake. Jax and Amaya pretended to be slaves. Stein sang a show tune for Nazis. If it's my turn, I think I can handle it."

"What if the rest of us don't want to watch?" Ray asked him after a moment.

"Yeah, and what if we accidentally punch a Hvbinà in their meta-phobic face?" Zari added.

Mick grunted in wordless support.

Sara sighed loudly. "Okay, boys and girls. And Charlie," she added. The shapeshifter preened. "Looks like we're going to have to clean up our own mess by saving the world. Again."

*

Seventy-three years into the future they sent Charlie, disguised as a Hvbinà, to stake out the capitol building. Ray accompanied her. In the ATOM suit, he had shrunk down small enough to fit into her pocket.

There weren't a lot of good places to hide, among the transparent spires of Hvbinà City. Zari ended up sitting a too-small stolen shuttle, pressed close against Nate. On the other side of her, Constantine played with his lighter, the flame sparking and dimming.

"Stop that," Zari said.

John shot her an unimpressed look, ignoring her words.

"Charlie, whaddya got?" Sara asked, breaking into the irritated silence.

Charlie sighed loudly, a gust of breath in Zari's ear. "A lot of talking. About how aliens are the true menace. I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure this lot deserves our help."

No one spoke to argue the point.

"You're not going to believe this, but I've spotted someone familiar," Charlie said into her comm, breaking into the irritated silence. When no one moved to guess, she added, "It's our thief! They're like, right in front of me."

Sara sat up, alert in a split second. She reached for her fighting sticks, though the team was still a block away from Charlie's position. "What are they doing?"

"Trying to off someone else?" Mick asked, sounding only mildly interested. 

"They're not really doing anything? Charlie said. "They're just sort of watching the debate. Uh oh."

"Uh oh?" Sara repeated, catching the note of alarm in Charlie's voice.

"I think I've been, what is it Mick says? Made, I think I've been made." Her pitch increased steadily with each word. "I'm still in form, but something must have given me away."

"Don't do anything!" Sara shouted. Zara winced at the volume of the echo in her earpiece. "You might make the timeline even worse. Just get out of there."

There was silence, then something that sounded like a struggle.

"Shit," Sara said. Mick was ahead of her, slamming the controls that opened the shuttle. The team ran into the street, racing towards the tall spire of the government building.

*

They caught up to the other Legends five minutes later. The thief had captured Charlie on the glass balcony that rimmed the government chamber. They were holding both her arms in an unforgiving grip. Charlie had shifted back into her Amaya-form, and the familiar features made the grimace of pain on her face apparent.

Ray had returned to full size. With his ATOM visor lifted, he shot the team a look of gratefulness as they arrived. Sara took the lead. She raised her hands in a conciliatory gesture that belied the fighting stance in her trained, hard muscles.

"Let Charlie go," she urged.

"So you can take me back to serve an unfair sentence at the whims of the Hvbinà kleptocracy?" the alien demanded. Their grip on Charlie became tighter, and she made a small noise of protest.

Sara shook her head. Her eyes were alert, watching for any openings. "It doesn't have to be like that. We know you were just trying to make things better."

"You don't know anything!" the thief shouted. They let go of Charlie, giving a hard, decisive shove, and with a cry of surprise Charlie went tumbling over the balcony railing.

"Charlie!" Ray shot into action, flying down to meet her. Zari reached out with her power, and together they brought Charlie to an easy, gentle stop as her feet touched the ground.

Zari ran to the balcony railing, looking in all directions around the floor below. The thief had vanished. 

Charlie slid out of Ray's arms. "Thanks, mate."

Ray grinned. "Don't mention it. Uh, Captain? I think it might be time to skedaddle. Again."

Zari glanced around them, finding hostile glares aimed at them from every direction. The legislative proceedings had ground to a complete halt, and the crowd of haughty officials had fallen into a disapproving, vaguely hostile silence.

"I think you might be right," Sara said. "Let's get out of here. Charlie?"

"Um," was all Charlie said.

"Um?" Sara repeated.

Charlie held out her wrist. It was bare. "I think they stole the time courier when they took me hostage."

"Oh, they're good," Mick said.

*

They piled into the stolen shuttle and rode out to the Hvbinà City spaceport in the stolen shuttle. All around them were the signs of the Hvbinà preparing for war, of their armada being built and troops practicing their strange alien fighting. The patch of desert where they'd parked the Waverider was mercifully abandoned. 

"Captain Lance. I am quite relieved to see you." The cool artificial voice sounded as if she could have been waiting for a mere seventy-five seconds, rather than seventy-five years.

"Good to see you too, Gideon." Sara strapped into the pilot's chair. "Let's get back to the present day and figure out our next move."

"I have a question," Zari said. All the eyes on the bridge swiveled to study her.

"Shoot," Sara said.

"Instead of chasing this idiot around, why don't we just steal the device before they ever steal it? That way all of this time mess can be avoided."

"That's not what we were asked here to do," Ray pointed out.

"So?" Constantine asked. 

"Just thought I'd point it out." Ray shrugged.

Sara tilted her head, thinking. "You want to steal the time device that's inside the busiest and most well-guarded building in the city? Not even Mick could pull that off. That wasn't a dare, Mick, sit down." 

Mick scowled. "I could do it."

"I'm sure you could, Mick," Ray said kindly.

Constantine spoke up. "More to the point, do we have a better plan?"

There was silence on the bridge while everyone mulled that over.

*

They considered their plan in the galley. Mick fabricated enough beer for the entire team. Nate sipped weakly at his, then pushed it away. He still looked sick.

"We'll need a distraction," Mick said.

"What could be more distracting than a meta turning up in their midst?" Constantine asked, slouched in his chair beside Charlie.

Charlie giggled. "Oh, yeah. They'd freak out."

Nate smiled grimly, but Zari couldn't help scowling.

"Seriously, that's your plan? Use Nate as bait."

"It'll be fine--" Nate began.

"I don't even think you know what that word means--" Zari interrupted.

"--I'll have you to protect me, right?" 

"Oh." Zari closed her mouth, suddenly disarmed. "Yeah. You will."

*

There was at least one person who liked the plan less than Zari did. Granted, Sara hadn't actually told them the plan yet. The ambassador had come to the Legends' rooms in Hvbinà City asking for an update. Sara had only spoken in vague generalities, with a ten-minute detour into describing Ava's snickerdoodle recipe.

The ambassador's face drew into a now-familiar long scowl. "There has been no progress. Sara-hrzz, I demand to know your next step."

"Listen," Mick said. "You wanted the Legends and you got the Legends. Screwy plans and all."

"Trust us," Ray added.

The Hvbinà gestured in a manner that Zari suspected implied that they did not trust them. At all. Their gaze shifted to Nate, who was sitting in a chair, paying little attention to the conversation. A flurry of unhappy movements followed.

The ambassador turned to Zari. "You have not been taking care of his needs."

Zari frowned. "Needs? He's not my pet."

"No, his sexual needs. The restraining bracelet has a sexual effect on most metas. There are unfortunate side effects if these requirements are not met."

"Okay, ew," Sara said.

"Hold on," Charlie said. "Has all this ruckus been because you lot just really want to smash metas?" She punctuated the question with a small pelvis thrust. Mick looked amused.

"You gave me a sex slave bracelet to put on my--my Nate?" Zari was yelling, and this time nobody hushed her.

The ambassador stared at her. "It is not slavery. It is a necessary precaution--"

"Okay, great chat." Mick had moved silently to the ambassador's side, making the alien jump as Mick's large hand landed on their shoulder. "We'll call you when we've caught your guy."

He shooed the Hvbinà out the door. 

*

"Hang in there." Zari looked at Nate where he was slumped on the couch, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Just out of earshot, the rest of the Legends had fallen into an argument about their plan to rob the alien time agency. "We're almost out of this mess, okay? Then it'll be like we never even met these assholes."

"I'm fine," Nate protested.

Zari eyed him, but didn't respond to the lie. "Is part of what that creeper said true?" she asked instead. "Have I been ignoring you?"

"Not any more than I've been ignoring you? I mean, it'd be kind of hard to do that kind of thing in this museum display," Nate said, gesturing to the transparent walls. He was still, but his warm eyes were alive, watching her.

"You love museums," Zari said.

"Yeah, but they're not actually that comfortable to have sex in," Nate answered.

"Okay, please no details on how you know that."

Nate added, "Also, the team would have to watch, and I don't think they'd would be into it."

"Hmmn." Zari continued to stroke his shoulder. Through his shirt he felt just slightly too hot, and her brow furrowed in worry. "I notice you didn't say that you wouldn't be into it."

Weakly, Nate smiled at her. "Don't really care who knows how into you I am, Zari Tomaz."

"It's weird when you use both my names like that," Zari said. She bent over, pushing her falling hair back from her face, and kissed him.

*

"I said 'left', Haircut."

The team were working on breaking into the time agency's offices. Zari could hear the whispered bickering as the plan proceeded. Thirty-seven stories down, on the ground level of the building, Nate was circling the indoor promenade, humming loudly to himself.

That was certainly one way to attract attention, Zari thought. Not that Nate needed to make any noise. His meta bracelet and apparent status as an unaccompanied meta were doing the job just fine. All the Hvbinà eyed him warily, some falling openly into a group that followed menacingly a few feet behind. Zari glanced back at them, mentally counting the numbers. The hand that was wearing her totem bracelet clenched involuntarily into a fist.

"Let them," Nate muttered, just loud enough to be picked up by his comm so that Zari could hear his words. "If they start trouble that's the point, right?"

"Technically the plan didn't say who would be starting the trouble," Zari said, but she forced her fingers to relax.

Nate fell back into humming.

"Ugh. Don't you know anything from this century?"

"Nope," Nate said cheerfully, lapsing back into his imitation of a saxophone. 

He stumbled, coming to a stuttering stop as he tried to regain his balance. The Hvbinà following him seemed to close the distance, coming almost close to pounce. Zari held her breath, studying him. Nate had seemed better this morning, but now the signs of illness had returned. He was pale and unsteady.

In Zari's ear, the team was still arguing.

On the heels of the gathering mob, Zari spotted a pair of Hvbinà wearing identical uniforms. Police officers.

"Heating up," she said out loud.

Nate took two more steps, then fell over. 

Which was not in the plan. "Shit," Zari muttered. She stepped out of her designated location, dodging the alien glares send in her direction as she rushed to Nate's side.

Nate was groggily blinking his eyes open when she knelt beside him. "Zari?"

"You fainted," she said, keeping her voice as business-like as she could.

"I feel terrible," Nate admitted.

"Zari? Nate? Everything okay?" That was Sara.

"Fine! Let's just wrap this up," Zari answered. She looked around them at the crowd that was getting closer on all sides.

And spotted an open door just ahead of her, to what appeared to be some sort of small office. "Calling a new play," she whispered to Nate, gesturing. "Think you can make it over there?"

"Yes?" Nate said uncertainly.

Zari sighed, gripping him by the waist, doing her best to give him something to lean on as he stood. They rushed forward a dozen feet, and then they were inside the glass room. Zari used a gust of wind to shut the door and lift the largest pieces of furniture that she could find in front of it. A desk was first, and then a cabinet and a bank of computers. Soon the way was barred completely.

A second later Nate's grip around her relaxed as he crumpled to the floor again. This time he'd folded into a kneeling position. His shoulders were slumped as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

The crowd of Hvbinà were still staring at them through the huge glass window.

"Excuse me? Gentlebeing?" The unexpected voice made Zsri jump. She whipped her head around to find a Hvbinà standing at the back of the office, eyeing them.

"Your meta. They are sick?"

"He's not my meta!" Zari snapped. Then relented, as the Hvbinà stared at her, shoulders shuffling worriedly. "Yeah, he's not well. It's this stupid bracelet." 

The alien made a distressed clicking noise. "Yes! They need, ah--"

"I know that part already," Zari said.

"Zari," Nate whispered. The syllables of her name were said breathlessly, infused with longing, and… Zari knelt beside him, and looked down. Her eyes widened.

"Nate," she said in disbelief. In Nate's jeans was the distinct bulge of a growing erection.

"Sorry," Nate said, and he genuinely did sound apologetic. "I can't help it."

"How do you even have enough strength for that?" Zari asked. "Crap, okay. We could, um, deal with it? Maybe it would help. That's what the ambassador seemed to think, anyway."

Nate's blue eyes almost disappeared into a frown as he tried to concentrate. "We're on a mission."

"A mission to distract people. You don't think this would be distracting?"

Sara spoke again. "Zari. Status."

Zari thought quickly. "Status, right. We're going on silent for five, ten minutes?"

Nate moaned softly.

"Better make it twenty," Zari finished, before switching her comm, then reaching over to switch Nate's off as well. She froze in the intimate position, and gazed at him.

Nate took a hard breath, closing his eyes for a moment as he stretched into a flat position on the cool, white floor. When he opened his eyes again, he was staring worriedly at her. "You don't have to."

"I don't care about them," Zari said, turning her back to the crowd. In the corner, the Hvbinà who had spoken to them was still watching in silence. "I care about you. If you don't want to, we'll figure something out, okay?" But Nate was getting worse. His illness could be getting more serious with every minute that passed, and Zari didn't know how bad it might get She didn't want to say that part aloud.

Zari took a breath. She shifted her body to shield Nate from as many of the stares as she could, then slowly placed her hand against his crotch. He was firm in his jeans, radiating heat. Zari cupped her palm against him gently.

Nate whimpered.

"I've got you," Zari whispered softly. She thumbed open the button, then pulled down Nate's zipper, and his underwear with it. She rubbed her hand against his cock, sweeping her fingers across the leaking tip. She'd done this dozens of times before. She loved doing this for Nate, loved watching him turn eager and pliant under her touch. She circled her fingers around his cock. Her free hand slipped up his belly, gently patting the exposed skin there. Nate's hand slid down, laying his fingers on top of hers. He breathed heavily, watching her.

Zari met his eyes, giving him a half-smile. She licked her lips, then dipped her head, brushing her wet mouth over the head of his cock. He was salty-sweet in her mouth, arching under her. Zari listened for each of Nate's small moans, sucking him as her fingers rubbed the base of his cock.

The crowd outside was still growing, judging by the restless noise filtering through the windows. The door had been shaken, but not budged. At this point, Zari suspected, the aliens were far more interested in studying the developing scene in front of them.

Minutes ticked by before Zari pulled off, cocking her head at Nate thoughtfully.  
"This is not getting you anywhere, huh?"

Nate shook his head, summoning a weak, apologetic smile. "Sorry. I don't know why. You know this is my favourite part."

"Name a part that's not your favourite," Zari joked, but she was distracted. Her fingers still stroked him absently as she thought. "You think it would help if we switched it up?"

"Maybe, but you don't have to--"

"Shut up," Zari interrupted firmly. She lifted up her arms, pulling off her shirt to expose her dark, no-frills bra. That went next. Nate's eyes darted from her breasts to the wall of staring Hvbinà, still so close, then back to her again.

"Z--"

"Stop it. This is for you. It's not for them. Those perverts can watch if they want to." Her shoes, pants and underwear went next, into a pile beside them. Zari straddled Nate, spreading her thighs and sinking down onto him. She was already wet, and they slid together easily. Nate held onto her hips, eyes sliding half-closed as he bucked against her. She leaned forward, placing her hands on the floor to brace herself, the blunt head of Nate's cock brushing a spot that made her gasp. 

Nate arched up, weakly lifting his head to kiss her. "Zari," he whispered against her mouth. His body began to shake as his orgasm surged and took him over. She could feel him spurting wet and hot inside her. Gasping for breath, Nate's fingers reached down between then, rubbing over her clit and sending warm pleasure through her in all directions.

"Again," Zari murmured, because she was so close, and that was all it took. Zari bit her lip as the wave of heat crashed over her. Her hole tightened, sending a gush of stickiness over Nate's cock, past her pussy's opening. Her own wet juice mixed with Nate's, running down her thighs. 

The orgasm finally eased its grip, her pussy still pulsing around him. As her head cleared, Zari noticed something.

Nate was still thick and swollen inside of her, as hard as he'd been the moment they started. Zari's eyelashes fluttered in surprise. "Oh, wow. You're really not done yet, huh?"

Nate shook his head helplessly. 

Zari glanced behind her. She wasn't sure how much longer they had before the Hvbinà tired of their zoo display, and tried to interfere. "It's okay. Whatever you need, all right?"

Distantly Zari knew that her audience was still watching, but she paid no attention.

With Nate still inside her, she lowered her stomach, chest, and shoulders to meet his. Their bodies pressed together, she placed her hands on his hips, holding firmly and rolling them both onto their sides.

"Hi," she said breathlessly, facing him.

"Hi," Nate answered, weak and hoarse. "Shit. Zari. I need--"

"Yeah," she whispered. Then he was fucking her in earnest, hips bucking, slamming his cock into her as hard as he could. She pressed a kiss to his throat, holding on. He drove against her open pussy again and again, until her thighs tightened around his hips. Zari barely had time to notice the sensation of wet juices leaking down her thighs and into a puddle underneath them, before she was coming again, hard, like the rumbling of a freight train. 

Nate slowed down, eyes studying her closely. His mouth quirked up, amused. "Okay, clearly I should wear this bracelet all the time."

"Don't even fucking joke about that," Zari muttered. The sound of them fucking now was just the sound of Nate's cock inside her full, soaking wet pussy, punctuated by needy gasps as Nate breathed into her ear. Zari felt weak, and overexposed. She had just enough time to think that she couldn't possibly come again, when another orgasm swept over her, as fierce as the first two. 

Her pussy tightened, coming with a moan and another burst of stickiness. Nate groaned. His hands clenched, fingers digging into her hips.

"Zari," Nate whispered, then he was shuddering, shattering apart with the force of his orgasm. He held onto her spurting over and over, until finally his body relaxed, leaving him gasping for air.

"Well, cross sex in space off the bucket list," he said, still breathing hard.

Zari rolled her eyes at him. "You're ridiculous. You know that?"

He kissed her, and his eyes were soft. "How'd our distraction go?"

Zari looked around. "Definitely working. Though I don't think you're ever going to be able to wear these jeans again." She cast an eye down at the sticky mess beneath him.

"Pants are overrated anyway," Nate said. He was already starting to look better, a flushed colour rising to his cheeks.

Zari tapped her comm. "Sara? How's it, uh coming?"

Beside her, Nate giggled. 

"Getaway time," Sara said. "You guys need an escort?"

The office door had begun to rattle again, more harshly this time. 

"Yup," Zari said, scrambling for her clothes. "Just give us maybe a minute or two? To get dressed?"

There was a pause marking clear confusion. "Um, what?" Sara said.

A minute later, the time courier opened a door into the office, in front of Zari's impromptu barricade. The team smirked in unison at the sight they found.

"Don't ask," Zari said.

"Yeah," Nate agreed. He'd given up on his pants entirely. "Let's just get off this stupid planet."

The Hvbinà office clerk watched them go silently, their visor tracking the movements of the team as each Legend moved through the portal, and then disappeared.

*

The meta bracelet vanished into nothing before the Waverider had even jumped into the timestream. With it, the dial in Zari's pocket melted away. It was as if they'd never been to space at all, except for the time device that now sat on a shelf in the captain's office.

*

When Zari entered her bunk, Nate was sitting on her bunk. He was freshly showered and changed, damp hair still sticking to the back of his neck.

"Feeling better?" Zari asked him.

"Yeah." Nate hesitated, watching her with uncharacteristic shyness. "Thanks," he said, and she knew he wasn't just talking about this moment.

Zari shrugged. "Well. It turns out there's not a lot I wouldn't do for you."

Nate smiled a little, looking pleased. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Zari leaned over, kissing him gently on the lips. She took a deep breath, readying herself. "And I don't know if you want to talk? About that girlfriend stuff." 

"Zari." Nate slid an arm around her, pulling her closer, and kissed her back. His voice muted to nearly a whisper. "I knew what I was getting into. You don't ever have to say anything you're not comfortable saying."

She considered this for a moment. "You do talk enough for the both of us."

"Damn right." He grinned.

"So if you wanted to say it, I mean. That would be okay."

Nate eyed her hesitantly. "You sure? Because I'd probably end up saying it to everyone. Like all the time. I don't want it to be too much."

Zari leaned into their embrace. "I'm sure." In fact she wasn't sure, her stomach doing nervous loops as her heart beat much too fast. But she thought she wanted this, enough to brave the feeling of terror that came with it. Nate swept her onto the bed. His arms were solid and warm as he kissed her again.

*fin.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to say hi on [tumblr](https://sweeter-than.tumblr.com) or [dreamwidth](https://dirty-diana.dreamwidth.org)!


End file.
